The Indianapolis journal., 1887-09-26
THE THREE DEGREES OF SIN
Bishop Bowman's Discourse at Merid-
ian-Street NJ. E. Church Yesterday.
Conservation of Deacons and Elders-Collec-
tions for Missionary Work-Sermons by
Revs. Willis, Spencer and Hickman.


Church yesterday. were opened with prayer by
DR.. Martin, who also read the first and second
lessons-the nineteenth Psalm and the first
eleven verses of the ffth chapter of Romans
Mrs. Coolidge, Of Princeton, sang superoly the
hymn, Ashamed OF Jesus" Bishop Bowman
took for his text, blessed is the man that
walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly. nor
standeth in the way Of sinners. nor sitteth in
the seat of the scornfu But his delight is in
the law OF the Lord; and in his law doth he
mediate day and night" Psalms i. IL
The Psalms he said, highly poetical. but
they are the poetical expression of divine truth
throughout all the years that they have existed
they have been a neverfailing source of comfort
to those who knew the God OF David Some
have considered the first Psalm a description
of the wicked man, but more properly it is a
negative description Of the godly man. By the
word ungodly, here used, is meant merely not
godly There q great many moral men who
upright in their business dealings and re-
spectacle in their social rotations but are not
Rodly They are not like God, and
not striving to be like Him.
The merely moral is selfish. He refuses
to give himself to God. which is his reasonable
service. Simple uneodliness abstract moral
ity is the least stage OF sin. The psalmist pre-
sents three degrees Of advance in wickednes: to
walk with the ungodly, to stand with sinners,
to sit with the scornfuL In the first stage one
finds pleasure in association with the ungodly-
with those who morally inoffensive, but ne
giect their religious duties. Beyond that comes
association with sinners, who guilty, not
only Of sins Of omission, but also sins of COM
mission. These are violators of the law. In
this class must be included also, far as church
mem bers are concerned, those who violate the
rules of the church. There are many things
prohibited by the church rules which might be
considered innocent in themselves but which
are unquestionably bad in their associations.
The theater. the dance, and the euchre party
nre among these 'I went to a theater once"
continued the Bishop my wife and we're in
Boston, and there was play of the highest class
being presented at one of the thearers She
said she would like TO go, and we went 1t was
the only thing that could be considered wrong
that she ever asked me to do. We had not been
in the theater Eve minutes before she turned to
me m and said, Thomas, this is no place for us
We could not we'll leave then because it would
attract moro attention than staying. but as
soon as it was over we went to room and
knelt down and prayed to be forgiven,
and pledged ourselves never to go again.
We have kept that pledge. A Scotch lady once
told me that she went to the theater when there
was good play and thought it benefited her.
asked her X she had ever considered what eff
feet her going might have on others. She said
no and after rehecting on the subject said she
would go more. Who tell where example
may reach2 believe 1t would not hurt me to
drink glass of wine every day for dinner, fur
ther than the physical injury of oducing
that much alcohol into my system, but nv use
OF 1t might make some other person a drunkard.
No Christian man can afford TO set bad exam
pls."
The third stage of ain presented Is that of the
fcornful-of those who make q mockery of the
Iogon OF God. These not content to vio
late the divine laws themselves, but go further
and willfuly seek to influence others 20 the evil
path. There are some protesting Christians
who indulge in this sin in a degree. They hold
up TO ridicule the peculiarities or inirmities of
good people, and cause them to become objects
of jest This may be dono thoughtlessly, and
with no deliberate intention of injury TO the
cause Of religion, but it 10 injury, and it is
mean and contemptible thing for one who is ad-
mitted to the means of grace a brother or
sister, and who has the hearts of his brethren
laid bare before him in Chrlstisn communion. to
carry their frailties to the ears Of the outside
world.
The blessed man-the godly man-is not So
His delight is in the law OF the Lord, and in his
law doth he mediate day and night. II
member when q boy at school" said the Bishop,
chow anxious I was to get letters from my
father When they came / read them and re-
read them, and now and then l would get out
the bundles and read them all over The Bible
Is Our Fathers letter to us, and il we love him
we will love to read IL over and over again. 1
have been reading it for sixty years. and find
something new in it every time open it.
The apostle says that the promise of God Is as
nm anchor Of the sou:, both and steadfast
When / went over to China to visit the missions
used often to go TO the bow of the steamer and
look over at the great anchors and think OF that
On the day before we reached land on our return
we had a great storm. and the vessel was tossed
wildly the waves, but could hear the
captain saying from time to time, Steady! all
enthusiastically all right So can hear the
Captain OF our Salvation by faith and know that
ali is well That night we came in sight of the
land. had asked the captain to call me when
we approached the Golden Gate. and he did
] stood on the deck till we had passed through.
and in the bright starlight within the quiet
harbor we cast anchor at home
''Since then had a attack of illuess
that brought me close to the portals OF the
other world: thought that the old bark
worn out ana must go to pieces, but through the
storm the anchor OF the soul remained
I thought Icould see through
the golden gates, and view the City of God be-
yond, but the time was not yet come. The GER
tainty still abides, ana when Gods appointed
time shall come, feel that shall pass out of
the storms of life and anchor safe at homo in
the haven OF eternal rest"
Consecration of Deacons and Elders.
The afternoon services were delayed for a few
minutes in order that the Sunday school might
attend. They were opened with the hymn "He
Leadeth Me-" and prayer by Rev. w. A. Spen-
Ger. Those who were to be ordained as deacons
were then called. and came forward to the altar
railing. The class was composed of Lucien B.
Johnson. James B. Thomas: William u Whit
sett, George F. McNaughton, Frank j. Mafft,
John CHAINS, Noah Robbins, Wilber F. Sheri-
dan Commons r. Vest. Walter S. RAIDER. Cunan
f. Hargrave. Milton G. McKown, Albert N.
Elrod and John B. J. Smith
In explanation to the younger members of the
audience, Bishop Bowman said that ordination
was simply setting aside the candidates for GER
tain work Ii conferred ne spiritual powers;
these must como from on high. These young |
men had been Oh trial for two or three years, |
and had been found proper persons to be set |
apart as deacons After two or three years |
more Of trial they will be set aside as elders,
that being higher order of the ministry. |
deacon may baptize, perform the marriage cero-
mony and assist in the sacramental rites bur he